Nicole is currently a Program Specialist in Instructional Technology and World Languages for San Juan Unified School District, where she supports more than 3,000 teachers through her work. Prior to 2018, she taught French to grades 3 through 12, including AP French Language for 25 years. Nicole is very active in the education community and she has presented on a variety of topics at local, state and national workshops and conferences since 1999. In addition, Nicole is the Co-Director of the Capital World Language Project, a site of the California World Language Project, a California Subject Matter Project.

In 2012, Nicole was named San Juan USD Teacher of the Year, Sacramento County Teacher of the Year and was one of 12 finalists for California State Teacher of the Year.  She was selected as the Southwest Conference on Language Teaching Language Teacher of the Year in 2014 and named the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages’ National Language Teacher of the Year in 2015. Most recently, she was named the 2021 and 2024 ACSA Region 3 Curriculum Administrator of the Year. 

She also writes and hosts an annual podcast series for language educators produced by the NFLRC at the University of Hawai’i - Manoa and presents professional learning  sessions for the National Association of District Supervisors of Foreign Languages. She served a four-year term on the California Department of Education's Instructional Quality Commission, where she was on the Executive Board and was the chair of the World Language Subject Matter Committee.